Devices and methods configured to control network access time

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method of limiting access time to a computer network for client computing devices may comprise disposing an access controlling device such as a router between the computer network and the client computing devices such that the client computing devices can only access the network through the access controlling device, at least while within an area of coverage thereof. A unique identifier may be stored for client computing devices whose access to the network is to be limited and a selectable allowable cumulative network access time period may be stored for at least some of these client computing devices. Using at least the unique identifiers, the cumulative network usage time may be tracked for each of the client computing devices. The access controlling device may then prevent further network access to those client computing devices whose tracked cumulative network usage time exceeds the selectable allowable cumulative network access time period.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/717,481 filed on Dec. 17, 2012, entitled DEVICES AND METHODSCONFIGURED TO CONTROL NETWORK ACCESS TIME, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, parents wishing to limit their children's access to theInternet are reduced to taking the child's computer or mobile deviceaway, installing client-side parental-control software on the child'scomputer or mobile device and configuring the parental-control softwareto only allow access between specified times, on each device.Unfortunately, such client-side parental-control software is easilycircumvented by tech-savvy children. Indeed, the software may bedisabled by removing the software, returning the computer or mobiledevice to its factory configuration, and other techniques. This rendersthe parent's job difficult and requires a great deal of day-to-dayinvolvement on the parent's part, rendering such client-sideparental-control software less than practical or easy to use, in mostcases.

The other way to limit a child's access to the Internet would be tophysically disable the router and/or modem when access is to bedisabled. However, this also prevents all other users from accessing thenetwork.

What are desired, therefore, are methods and devices that would enable aparent to effectively limit a child's access to the Internet to aselectable number of hours a day or week. Such methods and devicesshould not require the installation and maintenance of client-sideparental-control software and should be effective to apply selectableaccess restrictions to all or selected devices accessing the Internet.Finally, such methods and devices should be relatively tamper-proof bychildren and should allow flexibility in setting and changing the numberof hours or minutes computers and mobile devices are allowed to accessthe Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network incorporating aspects of oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a correspondence table associating device names and uniqueidentifiers, according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary User Interface (UI) according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary UI according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary UI according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows a mobile device illustrating further aspects of oneembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One embodiment enables parents or guardians to limit the number of hoursor minutes for each or selected network-accessing devices within theirhome network. Such network accessing devices may comprise, for example,computers, laptops, tablet computing devices, mobile phone and the like.

According to one embodiment, such functionality is embodied in therouter, which then is not only the centralized gateway to the Internet,but also becomes the timekeeper of access thereto. According to oneembodiment, the router comprises flexible built-in mechanisms to enforceparental (for example) decisions regarding the total number of hours orminutes of Internet access allowed for each selected network accessingdevice or devices. A router configured according to one embodimentoffers a high-level of granularity in the selection of time limitsacross all of the family's network-accessing devices and enables a highdegree of flexibility in regulating the amount of Internet access timeallowed for each accessing device or group of accessing devices.

According to one embodiment, the router may be configured to keep trackof the cumulative time any particular device has been allowed to accessthe Internet and disables that access when the device has beenaccess-enabled for a cumulative period of time equal to the selectableallowable cumulative network access time period for that device or groupof devices. According to one embodiment, the client devices need notcomprise parental-control software or any other network access controlclient-side software, as all network access control may be maintainedwithin the router.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a network and system incorporating aspects of oneembodiment. As shown therein, a home network 100 may comprise a networkgateway device 104 such as, for example, a modem. The network gatewaydevice 104 may be configured to enable access to a network 102 that maycomprise, for example, the Internet. A router 106 according to oneembodiment may be coupled to the network gateway device 104. The router106 may be configured to join networks 100 and 102 and to route datatraffic therebetween. The router may be assigned a Wide Area Network(WAN) Internet Protocol (IP) address and may select a Local Area Network(LAN) IP address that does not conflict with the WAN IP address in inthe manner, for example, disclosed in co-pending and commonly-assignedU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/717,481, which is incorporatedherein in its entirety. The router 106 may be also configured tocomprise a user interface that is selectively accessible to properlyauthenticated network accessing devices. According to one embodiment,the router 106 may implement a computer-implemented method of limitingaccess time to the network 102 to one or more client computing devices,such as shown at 112, 114, 116 and 118. According to one embodiment, therouter 106 may be disposed between the network 102 and the plurality ofclient computing devices 112, 114, 116 and 118 such that the pluralityof client computing devices 112, 114, 116 and 118 can only access thecomputer network through the router 106, at least while within the areaof coverage thereof. According to one embodiment, the network gatewaydevice 104 and the router 106 may be integrated into a single integratedmodem-router 105 that incorporates the functionality of both the networkgateway device 104 and the router 106. Such an embodiment may furtherlimit the network accessing devices 112, 114, 116 and 118 fromcircumventing the network access limits by plugging his or her networkaccessing device 112, 114, 116 and 118 directly into the network gateway104.

As suggested by the timers at reference numerals 113, 115 and 117, therouter 106 may be configured track the cumulative network usage time foreach of the plurality of client computing devices 112, 114, 116 and 118,respectively, whose access to the computer network 102 is to be limited.That is, as suggested at 113, the router 106 may be configured to trackthe cumulative network usage time of Marie's tablet computing device112. Similarly, as suggested at 115, the router 106 may be configured totrack the cumulative network usage time of Jainie's phone 114. Likewise,the router 106 may be configured to track the cumulative network usagetime of John's phone 116 and of John's laptop computer 118. According toone embodiment, each of John's devices 116, 118 may be assigned aseparate and independent allowable cumulative network access timeperiod. Alternatively, according to one embodiment, a group of networkaccessing devices, such as John's phone 116 and laptop computer 118 inthe example being developed herewith, may share a single allowablecumulative network access time period. In this case, time accessing thenetwork 102 on both devices is cumulative and the sum of the networkaccess times of each device is added together and subtracted from theallowable cumulative network access time period assigned to the group ofdevices comprising network accessing 116 and 118.

As conceptually shown by the timer 115, the allowable cumulative networkaccess time period for Jainie's phone 114 has come to an end.Accordingly, further access to the network 102 by Jainie's phone 114 maybe disallowed, as symbolically shown at 113. As shown at 112, Marie'stablet computing device's tracked cumulative network usage time has notyet exceeded the selectable allowable cumulative network access timeperiod, meaning that her computing device 112 still has unfetteredaccess to the network 102, or at least the same level of access theretothat she previously enjoyed. Similarly, the group of computing devicesdefined by John's phone 116 and John's laptop 118 tracked cumulativenetwork usage time has also not yet exceeded the selectable allowablecumulative network access time period, and thus is not also preventedfrom accessing the network 102 until such time as that condition nolonger holds true.

As shown at 108, according to one embodiment, a computing device 108that presents the proper credentials to the router 106 may access asecure administrator UI enables the operator thereof to select, amongother functions, the allowable cumulative network access time period fora selected one or ones of the client computing devices 112, 114, 116,118. In the home environment, the administrator is likely to be Mom orDad, a guardian or other responsible party. According to one embodiment,any computing device that presents the proper credentials (e.g.,username and password) to the router 106 may be granted access theadministrator functions and may thus be considered to be the Admin'scomputing device as shown at reference 108 in FIG. 1. For example, theAdmin computing device 108 may be a mobile device such as a smart phone.

FIG. 2 shows a correspondence table configured to associate device namesand unique identifiers, according to one embodiment. As shown therein,the router 106 (or integrated router-modem 105) may be configured tostore and maintain a table or database 202 that stores or references aunique identifier for each of the plurality of client computing deviceswhose access to the computer network is to be limited. As shown in FIG.2, the table 202 may comprise, for each client computing device, anentry 204 indicative of whether network access time limitations are tobe imposed for that device. Table 2 also shows at 206 a friendly name(“Marie's Tablet”, “Jainie's Phone”, etc.) for each of the clientcomputing devices whose access to the network 102 is to be limited. At208, FIG. 2 shows a column comprising a unique device identifier foreach of the client computing devices whose access to the network 102 isto be limited. According to one embodiment, the router 106 may associatethe unique device identifiers 208 with the friendly device name 206.According to one embodiment, the unique device identifier 208 maycomprise a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the client computingdevice, as shown in FIG. 2. The unique device identifier may alsocomprise or be based on, according to one embodiment, the IP address ofthe client computing device. Those of skill in this art will recognizethat other quantities may be used for a device unique identifier 208.

According to one embodiment, an allowable cumulative network access timeperiod may be selected for each client computing devices whose access tothe computer network is to be limited. The selected allowable cumulativenetwork access time period may be associated, by the router 106 with theclient computing devices whose access to the computer network 102 is tobe limited. Selection and association of the allowable cumulativenetwork access time period may be carried out for each client computingdevice whose access to the network 102 is to be limited. Thereafter,according to one embodiment, using at least the unique identifiers, therouter 106 may track a cumulative network usage time for each of theplurality of client computing devices whose access to the computernetwork is to be limited. Indeed, the router may be configured to startor resume a counter upon a client computing device requesting access tothe network 102 and may stop the counter when the client computingdevice is no longer accessing the network 102. According to oneembodiment, the router 106 may then prevent further network access bythat or those client computing devices whose tracked cumulative networkusage time exceeds their selectable allowable cumulative network accesstime period.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary User Interface (UI) according to oneembodiment. As shown in FIG. 3, the UI 300 enables selection of theallowable cumulative network access time period for each clientcomputing device whose access to the network 102 is to be limited. TheUI 300 may comprise, for example, a “Setting Internet Access Limits”screen in which the Admin may be invited to select the client computingdevice or devices for which access to the network 102 is to be limited,as suggested at 302. For example, a pull-down menu 304 may be provided,enabling the Admin to select one or more client computing devices (suchas 112, 114, 116, 118 in FIG. 1) for which network access is to belimited. Some previously-registered client computing devices may beabsent or greyed out, as shown at 112. In this case, Marie's tabletwould not be subject to network access limitations, consistent withMarie's tablet not being designated as “Active” in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3,the Admin has decided to select “All”, meaning to select all active (i.e., not greyed out”) client computing devices; namely, Jainie's phone114, John's phone 116 and John's laptop 118. For each of these clientcomputing devices, the allowable cumulative network access time periodmay be selected. Although only hours are shown in the figures, those ofskill may recognize that the selection of minutes may also be enabled.One or more interval periods (e.g., weekdays 308, weekend days 310) maybe define and, for each of these interval period, a separate andindependent allowable cumulative network access time period 312, 314 maybe selected. Other interval periods (e.g., months) may also be provided.Selection of the allowable cumulative network access time period foreach interval period(s) may be selected via, for example, one or morepull-down menus, as shown in FIG. 3. Other graphic devices (e.g., radiobuttons, sliders, dials and the like) may be used to enable easyselection of the allowable cumulative network access time period foreach client computing device or groups thereof, as those of skill inthis art may recognize. As also shown in FIG. 3, one or more radiobuttons may be used to enable or disable any network access timerestrictions as shown at 308, to enable or disable network accessrestrictions for any defined interval periods. For example, an Admin maydeselect the radio button adjacent the “weekend” interval period 310, tothereby allow unlimited access to the network 102 over the weekend.According to one embodiment, any selected allowable cumulative networkaccess time period may reset at the end of its interval period. Forexample, the selected allowable cumulative network access time period(12 hours in the example of FIG. 3) may reset at the end of “weekday”interval period; namely, Saturday morning. Once reset, the clientcomputing device subject to such selected allowable cumulative networkaccess time period would once again be allowed to access the network 102for the selected allowable cumulative network access time period duringthe week to come.

For any reason, should one of the users (e.g., Marie, Jainie or John inthe example being developed herewith) need to their computing device ordevices to access the network 102 for a period of time longer than theselected allowable cumulative network access time period, the Admin,through the Admin's computing device 108, may be provided with theoption of selecting the appropriate client computing device anddisabling network access time restrictions by, for example, selectingradio button 306. Alternatively, the Admin may simply extend the numberof hours of the selected allowable cumulative network access time periodat 312 or 314.

As shown in FIG. 4, by selecting more than one client device, a group ofclient computing devices may be formed, in which the constituent membersthereof may each separately be limited to the selected allowablecumulative network access time period or may be caused to share theselected allowable cumulative network access time period. As shown inFIG. 4, John's Phone and John's laptop computer have been selected asshown at and thus form a group 404. For example, if the “Cumulative”radio button 406 is selected, the constituent members of the group 404may be caused to share the selected allowable cumulative network accesstime periods of, in this example, 12 hours and 8 hours for the weekdayand weekend time intervals. Alternatively, if the “Cumulative” radiobutton 406 is not selected, the constituent members of the group 404 maybe each be allowed to access the network 102 for 12 and 8 hours for theweekday and weekend time intervals, respectively.

According to one embodiment, the router 106 may be configured togenerate a usage log for any of the plurality of client computingdevices whose cumulative network usage time is tracked. At reference500, FIG. 5 shows an exemplary layout of such a usage log. According toone embodiment, such a usage log may be generated and made available tothe Admin, through the Admin computing device 108. The UI through whichthe log is requested and viewed may, as shown at 502, invite the Adminto select the client computing device(s) for which the Admin wishes togenerate a usage log. One or more of the friendly names 206 of thenetwork accessing computing devices may be selected. In the example ofFIG. 5, John's Phone and John's Laptop are selected, as shown in thepull down menu 304. As a result of such selection, a usage log 504 ofJohn's phone and a usage log 506 of John's Laptop may be generated andrendered for the Admin. An accounting of the remaining allowablecumulative network access time period may be shown, as suggested at 508.As those of skill may recognize, the usage log 500 may take on otherforms and may be delivered via other mechanisms. For example, a text,audio, video or an email message may be generated to a predeterminedrecipient or recipients. Moreover, alerts may be generated, rendered anddelivered to the Admin and/or to the users of the client computingdevices, alerting them, for example, that they are nearing theirallowable cumulative network access time period. Within the presentcontext, the term “log” is expressly intended to encompass all suchlogs, notifications and alerts, however or whenever rendered and/ordelivered. For example, a log 500 may be generated on demand, on a fixedpredetermined schedule and/or asynchronously upon the occurrence of oneor more events.

FIG. 6 shows a mobile device 602 illustrating further aspects of oneembodiment. As shown, the router 106 may be configured to generate andsend a message to a client computing device such as mobile computingdevice 602. The message, for example, may comprise an alert 604 to theeffect that the client computing device has nearly exceeded itsallowable cumulative network access time period, as shown at 604. Afurther message may also be generated and sent to the mobile device 602,asking whether more time should be requested from the Admin, assuggested at 606. The router 106 may also cause “Yes” and “No” buttons608, 610 to be generated on the mobile device 602, enabling the userthereof to request more time from the Admin. As shown in FIG. 6, theoperator has depressed the “Yes” button 608, which causes the mobiledevice 602 to send and the router 106 to receive a request for more timefrom the mobile device 602. The router 106 may then send a message tothe Admin (via text message or email, for example), informing the Adminthat the operator of mobile device 602 has requested more network accesstime. The router 106 may then cause the mobile device to acknowledge thesending of such a message, as shown at 612. Alternatively, the router106 may be configured to programmatically grant or deny such requestsbased upon one or more selectable criteria.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method according to one embodiment.Specifically, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of method of limiting access time toa computer network for a plurality of client computing devices. Asshown, Block B71 calls disposing an access controlling device, such as arouter 106, between the computer network 102 and the plurality of clientcomputing devices 112, 114, 116, 118 such that the plurality of clientcomputing devices 112, 114, 116, 118 can only access the computernetwork through the access controlling device (e.g., router 106 or modemrouter 105) while within the area of coverage thereof—typically withinthe home or within the area of coverage of the wireless LAN generated bythe router 106. Block B72 calls for storing a unique identifier 208 foreach of the plurality of client computing devices 112, 114, 116, 118whose access to the computer network 102 is to be limited. Block B73calls for associating and storing a selectable allowable cumulativenetwork access time period for at least some of the plurality of clientcomputing devices 112, 114, 116, 118 whose access to the computernetwork 102 is to be limited. Thereafter, Block B74 calls for, using atleast the unique identifiers 208, tracking the cumulative network usagetime for each of the plurality of client computing devices whose accessto the computer network 102 is to be limited. Lastly, Block B75 of FIG.7 calls for preventing further network access by that or those clientcomputing devices 112, 114, 116, 118 whose tracked cumulative networkusage time exceeds the selectable allowable cumulative network accesstime period.

While certain embodiments of the disclosure have been described, theseembodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are notintended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the novel devicesand assemblies described herein may be embodied in a variety of otherforms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in theform of the devices and assemblies described herein may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the disclosure. The accompanying claims andtheir equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications aswould fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. For example,those skilled in the art will appreciate that in various embodiments,the actual physical and logical structures may differ from those shownin the figures. Depending on the embodiment, certain steps described inthe example above may be removed, others may be added. Also, thefeatures and attributes of the specific embodiments disclosed above maybe combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all ofwhich fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Although thepresent disclosure provides certain preferred embodiments andapplications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of thefeatures and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope ofthis disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure isintended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method of limitingaccess time to a wide area network from a local area network for one ormore controlled client devices, the computer-implemented methodcomprising: operating, on the local area network, an access controllingdevice between the wide area network and the one or more controlledclient devices, wherein: the one or more controlled client devices areconfigured to: access the wide area network through the accesscontrolling device; and operate without client-side parental-controlsoftware for controlling access to the wide area network; associating,on the access controlling device, a first cumulative allowable networkaccess time period, received from an administrator device on the localarea network, with a first controlled client device of the one or morecontrolled client devices; tracking a first cumulative network usagetime for the first controlled client device; causing a message to appearon the first controlled client device, the message enabling a user ofthe first controlled client device to send a request for additionalnetwork usage time; determining whether to grant or deny the request foradditional network usage time; in response to a denial of the request,preventing, by the access controlling device, further access to the widearea network by the first controlled client device; and in response to agrant of the request, allowing, by the access controlling device,further access to the wide area network by the first controlled clientdevice.
 2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: in response to the grant of the request, adding additionaltime to the first cumulative allowable network access time period. 3.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein causing the messageto appear on the first controlled client device is in response to thefirst cumulative network usage time approaching or meeting the firstallowable cumulative network access time period.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether togrant or deny the request for additional network usage time is performedprogrammatically by the access controlling device.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining whether togrant or deny the request for additional network usage time comprises:causing a message to appear on the administrator device, the messageenabling an administrator on the administrator device to grant or denythe request for additional network usage time; and receiving, in theaccess controlling device, a response to the request comprising thedenial or the grant of the request.
 6. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, further comprising: enabling selection of the firstcumulative allowable network access time period through a secure userinterface.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinassociating comprises selecting the first cumulative allowable networkaccess time period for a first span of time and selecting a secondcumulative allowable network access time period for a second span oftime.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein: the firstspan of time comprises weekdays; and the second span of time comprisesweekend days.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: linking the first controlled client device and a secondcontrolled client device of the one or more controlled client devicessuch that the first and second controlled client devices together sharethe first cumulative allowable network access time period.
 10. A networkaccess device configured to operate on a local area network and controlaccess time to a wide area network for one or more controlled clientdevices operating on the local area network, the one or more controlledclient devices configured to operate without a client-sideparental-control software, the network access device further configuredto: associate a first cumulative allowable network access time periodwith a first controlled client device of the one or more controlledclient devices operating on the local area network; track a firstcumulative network usage time for the first controlled client device;cause a message to appear on the first controlled client device, themessage enabling a user of the first controlled client device to send arequest for additional network usage time; determine whether to grant ordeny the request for additional network usage time; in response to adenial of the request, prevent further access to the wide area networkby the first controlled client device; and in response to a grant of therequest, add additional time to the first cumulative allowable networkaccess time period.
 11. The network access device of claim 10, whereinthe network access device is further configured as at least one of anetwork gateway device and a router.
 12. The network access device ofclaim 10, wherein causing the message to appear on the first controlledclient device is in response to the first cumulative network usage timeapproaching or meeting the first allowable cumulative network accesstime period.
 13. The network access device of claim 10, wherein thefirst cumulative allowable network access time period is received froman administrator device on the local area network.
 14. The networkaccess device of claim 13, wherein the network access device is furtherconfigured to determine whether to grant or deny the request foradditional network usage time by: causing a message to appear on theadministrator device, the message enabling an administrator on theadministrator device to grant or deny the request for additional networkusage time; and receiving, in the access controlling device, a responseto the request comprising the denial or the grant of the request. 15.The network access device of claim 13, wherein the administrator deviceand the first controlled client device are mobile devices.
 16. Acomputer-implemented method of limiting access time to a wide areanetwork from a local area network for one or more controlled clientdevices, comprising: operating, on the local area network, an accesscontrolling device between the wide area network and the one or morecontrolled client devices, wherein: the one or more controlled clientdevices are configured to access the wide area network through theaccess controlling device; and the one or more controlled client devicesare configured to operate without client-side parental-control softwarefor controlling access to the wide area network; associating, on theaccess controlling device, a selectable allowable cumulative networkaccess time period, received from an administrator device on the localarea network, with the one or more controlled client devices; receiving,in the access controlling device, a request for additional network usagetime from a first controlled client device of the one or more controlledclient devices; in response to the request for additional network usagetime, causing a message to appear on the administrator device, themessage enabling an administrator on the administrator device to grantor deny the request for additional network usage time; receiving, in theaccess controlling device, a response to the request comprising a grantor a denial of the request; in response to receiving the denial of therequest, preventing, by the access controlling device, further access tothe wide area network by the first controlled client device; and inresponse to receiving the grant of the request, adding additional timeto a first cumulative network usage time associated with the firstcontrolled client device.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim16, wherein further comprising: causing a message to appear on the firstcontrolled client device, the message enabling a user of the firstcontrolled client device to send the request for additional networkusage time.
 18. A computer-implemented method of limiting access time toa wide area network from a local area network for a plurality ofcontrolled client devices, comprising: operating, on the local areanetwork, an access control means comprising at least one of a networkgateway and a router between the wide area network and the plurality ofcontrolled client devices, wherein: the plurality of controlled clientdevices can access the wide area network only through the access controlmeans while within an area of coverage thereof; and the plurality ofcontrolled client devices operates without client-side parental-controlsoftware for controlling access to the wide area network; storing, onthe access control means, a unique identifier for each of the pluralityof controlled client devices whose access to the wide area network is tobe limited; associating, on the access control means, a selectableallowable cumulative network access time period, received from anadministrator device on the local area network, with at least some ofthe plurality of controlled client devices whose access to the wide areanetwork is to be limited; using at least the unique identifiers to tracka cumulative network usage time for each of the plurality of controlledclient devices whose access to the wide area network is to be limited;providing, through a user interface accessible on at least one of theplurality of controlled client devices, a mechanism configured to enablea user of the at least one of the plurality of controlled client deviceswhose cumulative network usage time is tracked to send a request foradditional network usage time to the access control means; receiving, inthe access control means, the sent request for additional network usagetime; selectively granting or denying, by the access control means, thereceived request for additional network usage time; and preventing, bythe access control means, further access to the wide area network by thecontrolled client devices whose tracked cumulative network usage timemeets or exceeds the selectable allowable cumulative network access timeperiod while allowing access to the wide area network to thosecontrolled client devices whose tracked cumulative network usage timedoes not exceed the selectable allowable cumulative network access timeperiod.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, whereinassociating comprises selecting a first allowable cumulative networkaccess time period for a first span of time and a second allowablecumulative network access time period for a second span of time.
 20. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising linking atleast a first one of the plurality of controlled client devices and asecond one of the plurality of controlled client devices such that thelinked controlled client devices together share the selectable allowablecumulative network access time period.
 21. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 18, further comprising routing network traffic for theplurality of controlled client devices whose cumulative network usagetime is tracked until respective tracked cumulative network usage timesmeet or exceed corresponding selectable allowable cumulative networkaccess time periods.